Category Archives: Nelson Mandela

Desirable ballpoint signature and inscription, “To John Allan II, Compliments and best wishes, N. Mandela, 13.1.94,” on a clipped 8 x 9 portion of a manila envelope. In fine condition. Accompanied by a printed ‘Peace & Goodwill’ card. A choice example from the year Mandela was elected president in South Africa’s first multiracial democratic election. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.

Signed book: Long Walk to Freedom. First edition, first printing. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994. Hardcover with dust jacket, 6.25 x 9.5, 558 pages. Signed on the title page in black felt tip, “N. Mandela 14.5.99.” In fine condition. Accompanied by a May 19, 1999, letter from Mandela’s administrative secretary which reads, in part: “Your book ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ has been autographed by the President as you requested.” An extremely desirable autograph with outstanding and iron-clad provenance. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.

Very nice color glossy 7 x 5 photo of Mandela sitting with Kofi Annan, signed in black felt tip, “N. Mandela 15.3.2000.” Double-matted and framed to an overall size of 14 x 12. In very fine condition. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from James Spence. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.

TLS signed “N. Mandela,” one page, 8.25 x 11.5, African National Congress letterhead, January 4, 1993. Letter to Rev. Ronald I. Schupp of Chicago. In full: “I refer to your letter of 13 November 1992, which arrived at our office on 21 December 1992. It is unfortunate that I was already on vacation at the time and have only just returned to my office. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man, a man of great sensitivity, foresight and inspiration to his people. The vigil you undertake annually in honor of the life and work of Dr. King is to be applauded and encouraged. I salute you! Our thoughts will be with you on 20 January.” Central toning, otherwise fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope.

Fighting for the same cause on separate continents, King and Mandela are historically and intellectually intertwined, both becoming internationally recognized symbols of equality itself. With the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s, King began to see his vision of an equal America take hold before his death in 1968. Meanwhile, Mandela was imprisoned in South Africa for his activism against its institutionally racist apartheid regime—at the time he wrote this letter, he had been free for just two years and the era of apartheid was drawing to a close. Segregative legislation began to be dismantled in 1990, but the official ‘end’ of apartheid is usually recognized as the 1994 general election, South Africa’s first fully democratic, multiracial election. Mandela won the presidency and invited Coretta Scott King to his inauguration, invoking her husband’s famous words during his speech: ‘This is one of the most important moments in the life of our country…we can loudly proclaim from the rooftops—Free at last! Free at last!’ RR Auction COA.

Signed book: Long Walk to Freedom. Limited first edition of 250 copies (this being No. 240). London: Little, Brown and Company, 1994. Hardcover with slipcase, 6.5 x 9.5, 630 pages. Signed on the colophon in blue ballpoint, “N Mandela.” Autographic condition: very fine. Book condition: F/None. Stunning full green leather binding with gilt title and gilted textblock edges; no discernible flaws. In F green cloth-covered slipcase. By far the most desirable and rarest edition of this title. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.